The U.S. military confirmed Tuesday that nuclear-armed North Korea had fired a ballistic missile, finding it posed no threat to North America and vowing to work closely with its regional allies.

The move came after the reclusive state warned it will retaliate if the global community ramps up sanctions over its latest round of weapons tests.

"The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table," a senior White House official told CNN, following the news.

"North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a written statement. "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."

Ahead of a key visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump had said the United States was prepared to go it alone in bringing Pyongyang to heel if China did not step in.

"U.S. Pacific Command is fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security," the military command in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region said.

"The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America."

PACOM said it determined the launch of the KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile took place at 11:42 am (2142 GMT), landing in the Sea of Japan at 11:51 am, in line with findings by the South Korean defense ministry.

Pyongyang is on a quest to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year.

The U.S. military confirmed Tuesday that nuclear-armed North Korea had fired a ballistic missile, finding it posed no threat to North America and vowing to work closely with its regional allies.The move came after the reclusive state warned it will retaliate if the global...